Process for producing flowable compounds of acetyl cellulose.



WILLIAM G. LINDSAY, or cALnwiiLL, NEW JERSEY.

Specification ofletters BatentV No Drawing. Original application filed November-6, 1911, Serial No. 658,785. Renewed March 19, 1917, Serial No. 155,952. Divided and this application filed March 19, 1917. Serial Na-155,934.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, WILLIAM. G LlNDsAY, a citizen of'the United States, residing in' Caldwell, county'of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented a certain newand useful Process for Producing'Flowab1e Compounds of Acetyl Cellulose, of which the following is a specification, being a division from my copending application Ser. 658,785, filed Nov. 6, 1911, renewed. as Serial 17011551952, filed March 19, 1917.

The various compositions to which the present invention relates are employed in the arts, generally as imitations of natural substances, sometimes in their origlnal finished form with or without incorporated colors, and sometimes as films which are used for photographic and other purposes.

Although the final or useful form of the different compounds of acetyl cellulose is that of a solid or dried material, the different processes of' conversion into, this final solid form involve, as is well understood, the employment of solutions or mixtures of varying consistency as to plasticity,

stifi'ness or fluidity, depending generally upon the proportion and kind of solvent used to the amount of the original baseacetyl cellul0se.

It has long been known that camphor mixed with nitro cellulose upon the addition of ethyl alcohol to the mixture becomes a solvent of the nitrocellulose. I have found, however, that when that process is-appli'ed to acetyl cellulose no solvent action takes place in the vention was to find substances which, when added to-the acetyl cellulose would, upon the subsequent additionof ethyl alcohol, exert a "solvent action upon the acetyl cellulose and produce a plastic mass which could be workedin'a manner analogous to nitro cellulosecamphor compounds.

I have discovered that not all of the socalled camphor'substitutes possess this property when used with acetyl cellulose, and in the course of my experiments I have found that camphor substitutes may be grouped into three classes with respect to their solvent action on acetyl cellulose, namely 1+- Class A: Those substances which are noncold, and the object of my in-- Class B: Those substances which become solvents when melted, but are non-solvents vents when melted and also become solvents when dissolved in methyl or ethyl alcohol in' equal parts by weight at room temperature; such as toluol-sulfonamid,ethyl para toluol-sulfonamid, benzene-sulfonamid, ethyl acetanilid, and methyl acetanilid.

Patented Oct. 23,1917.

I have also discovered that in making fiowable solutions from my new compounds, I can employ substances other than those mentioned, and I have accordingly divided my main application into four divisions, each forming the subject of a separate application and designated by the letters A (Ser. No. 658,783), B (Ser. No. 658,784), C (Ser. No. 658,785) and D (Ser.. No. 658,786), respectively, all filed on November 6, 1 911.

' In order to'carry out the'new process I 4 which forms the subject matter, of this application (Division'C) as one example, I incororate 100 parts of an acetyl cellulose which is soluble in acetone with 20 to 50 parts of ethyl para toluol-sulfonamid by suitable grinding and mixing, as is the practice in the nltro cellulose art. To such mixture-I add from 40 to 100 parts of ethyl or of methyl alcohol, or a mixture of the two, and after thorough incorporation by stirring, the

mixture is allowed to remain at room temperature in a closed vessel for from 5 to 2 1 hours, or longer, the length of time dependingupon the physical form of the acetyl 'cel-' lulose used;.that is, whether it is finely or coarsely ground. In the course of time the mixture will have become converted into a more or'less stifl' gelatinated mass. It can then be workedup on rolls or a kneading machine,- ac'cording to the practice which is common in the nitro cellulosecamphor plastic art, and the resulting product may then be molded or passed through the stuliing machine as in the case of ;nitro cellulose camphor compounds. v I have found that a mixture composed of 1 part by weight each of ethyl alcohol powerful solvent than a mixture of 2- parts by weight of ethyl alcohol and 1 part by weight of ethyl para toluol-sulfonamid. If th alcohol is increased beyond this proporand ethyl para toluol-sulfonamid is a more cellulose.

tion the solvent power rapidly decreases; 'hence it is desirable to use as small a pro portion of alcohol as possible in converting the acetyl cellulose into a, gelatinous mass, but the application of heat will restore to acertain extent the solvent action of a solvent mixture which is. otherwise too weak. A proportion of 1.5 partsof ethyl or methyl alcohol to 1 part of ethyl para toluolsulfonamid also produces very satisfactory results asa gelatinating agent for acetyl Instead of the ethyl para toluol-sulfon- I amid I can use benzene-sulfonamid, and also ethyl acetanilid and related derivatives.

In order to produceflowable. solutions in the cold from thegelat'inous mass made according to the process above described and .solutions which are suitable for filtering, "20

etc., I-have found that suitable solvents or diluents for such purposes are produced by incorporating'with the mass, mixtures of either ethyl or methyl alcohol with the following liquids in the fjproportions hereinafter described. "Theseliquids are chloroform, epichlorhydrin, acetodichlorhydrin,

dichlor-ethylene, .ethylene-chlorid, trichlorhydrin,"pentachlorethane, acetochlorhydrln, acetylene-tetrachlorid, "chloracetate of ethyl, acetone, ethylacetate, and di-acetochlorhydrin. 4

A' proportion of the chloroform ingredient equal to 10 to 40% of the alcohol ingredient in the process is a suitable propor tion.

A mixture produced by combining one of- I have discovered, also, that when the proportion of methyl or, ethyl alcohol is increased beyond'the proportion to produce a solvent mixture, the addition of a camphor substitute of Class C reestablishes the solvent action. v

In orderto convert the'gelatinous mass produced according to the process above described into a more fluidmixture which can be filtered, etc., I use a mixture of methyl or ethyl alcohol containing from 20% 150.40% I tion of acetyl cellulose thus/"produced is worked up in the usual mannerby evaporating-the excess of solventanct further kneadmg, pressing, etc., theresultant mass. Here,

again, I have found am if. the solvent is too weak, the ap hcationof heat will restore the solvent action. v .1

- which is made according to the process above described, I have found that this can be done by incorporating with the product of that process such camphor substitutes of Class A above set forth as triphenylphos- .phate which efl'ectnon-inflammability in the resultant mass. That is,'the inflammability of the plastic masses made by the use of camphor substitutes of Class C can be reduced and overcome by incorporating such camphor. substitutes as triphenylphosphate which belong to Class A) I have found that this can be accomplished by proceed--. ing as follows I incorporate with 100 parts of acetyl cellulose, 20 parts of ethyl ,para toluol-sulfonamid and 20 parts of triphenylphosphate, and after thorough grinding, mixing, etc., I add 40 to 60 parts of methyl or ethyl alcohol, but I prefer inethyl'alcohol. The gelatinous mass produced by allowing this mixture to standat room temperature in an air tight receptacle .is further worked up by kneading, ,etc., according to practices well known to the nitro cellulose art. If it is methyl alcohol. and 30 parts by volume of I dichlorethylene, 'ethylenechlorid or chloroform, is added. It will thus be seen that the question of proportions enters very largely into the successful practice of the processes and the compositions of the new solvents described in this specification.

The generic expression alkylaryl acet amid in the claims comprises such equivalent substances for the purposes of this invention as methyl and ethyl acetanilid.

By ethylpara or paraethyltoluolsulfonamid, I mean the compound having the following structural formula:

' v the same being an alkylated aromatic sulfonamid.

What I claim is: V I

1. The process which comprises incorporating an acetonesoluble acetyl cellulose with an alkyl aryl acetamid in the presence of a small proportion of a monohydric alco-' hol having not more than two carbon atoms, and in the further presence of a liquid adapted to produce a flowable solution in the cold, the proportion of the last named ingredient being from 10 to 40% of the alcohol ingredient. v

2. The process which comprises incorporating an acetones'oluble acetyl cellulose with an alkyl aryl acetamid in the presence of a small proportion'of a monohydric alcohol having not more -than two carbon atoms,

and in the further presence of'aliquid adapted to produce a flowable solution in the cold. I

3. The process which comprises incorporating an acetone-soluble acetyl cellulose with an alkyl aryl acetamid in the presence of a small porportion of a monohydric alcohol having not more than two carbon atoms, and in the further presence of chloroform.

a 4; The process which comprises incorporating about 100 parts of an acetone-soluble acetyl cellulose with about to 50 parts ot an alkyl aryl acetamid and about 40 to 100 parts of a monohydricalcohol having not more than two carbon atoms, and further "incorporating a liquid adapted to produce 7 parts of a monohydric alcohol having not.

more than two carbon atoms, and further incorporating a liquid adapted'to produce a flowable solution in the cold.

-'6. The process which comprises incorporating an acetone soluble acetyl cellulose with a triaryl phosphoric acid ester, and also with an alkyl aryl acetamid in the presence of a small proportion of a monohydric alcohol having notfmore than two carbon atoms and further incorporating therewith a liquid adapted .to produce a flowable solutioninthe'cold'f 7. The process which comprises incorporating about 100 'arts of an acetone-soluble acetyl-cellulose wlth about20 to 50 parts of an alkyl aryl acetamid; about 40 to'100 parts of a monohydric alcohol having not more than two carbon atoms, and further incorporating therewith aboutl to 4 parts of a mixture consisting of about 70 parts, by volume of alcohol and 'about. 30 partsby -.volume of chloroform.

" WlLLIAM G. LINDSAY; 

